Pelosi gave an interview saying, among other things, that Trump is “goading” the House Democrats to impeach him.
MSNBC host Chris Hayes tweeted this:
Actually, it makes perfect sense to me.
There are really two questions:
- (1) Why would Trump want to be impeached?
- (2) Why would Nancy Pelosi say that Trump wants to be impeached?
If you read through the article, Pelosi also talks about how annoyed she is that Trump is stonewalling the investigations.
Which means there are investigations.
Remember the stages of impeachment. (If you want a refresher, click here.)
If the Democrats rush and impeach now, the Senate would acquit, and Trump would declare the matter over. Done! The Dems had their bite at the apple, he would say. They had their chance at bat. And they missed.
Trump then would fall into the same category as Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson, which isn’t the worst place to be.
Right now there are multiple on-going investigations into Trump’s financial situation.
The House is trying to get his tax returns.
The House is trying to get testimony from Barr, Mueller, McGahn, and others.
Remember all those redacted pages from the Mueller Report?. There are investigations going on everywhere!
Obviously there are already impeachable crimes. But what might come up later? As a legal matter the House can keep impeaching. But as a political matter, it would be disastrous. Imagine, after the whole spectacle of a Senate trial, the Dems say, “Wait! We have new evidence! We’re impeaching again!” And they do this over and over. This would play into Trump’s hands. “They just keep coming after me,” he’d say.
Better to wait until everything is in, and hit him with all the crimes.
Trump knows how to make a show. Thumbing his nose at the Democrats and saying, “Come on, impeach me, unless you’re chickens,” makes them look weak and hesitant, when in fact, they’re being careful and getting all the evidence first.
If you want to understand why Trump is doing something that seems nutty, a good rule is to ask, “What would Putin want?” Remember, Putin and Trump’s interests are aligned. Putin wants impeachment! The more chaos and spectacle the better. Pushing the Dems before they’re ready would make it a better “show.”
Remember that a big part of the Trump culture is victimhood. Trump loves to be a victim. I’ve written about that here.
The second question is: Why would Nancy Pelosi make a public statement about how Trump is goading the Dems to impeach him?
I think Pelosi is playing him. She makes him look silly. She makes him look like he wants to be impeached to make Putin happy (because the more chaos in the U.S. the better.”
I think Pelosi is playing the game, and she’s doing it right.
There are hoards of TwitterFolks (liberals!) absolutely savaging Pelosi for her hesitancy to use the “I” word. If you, too, are raging against her, please read the entire article.
Here is the conclusion:
@eatbees gave a good summary of what the House Dems are doing.
Trump is trying to throw the Dems off their game.
Pelosi is trying to throw HIM off HIS game.
